Wiretap Leads to 23 Arrests in Richmond

Wiretap put an end to "brazen, daylight shootings."

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Monitoring phone calls and conversations between social workers and young men connected to gangs led to 23 arrests in Richmond.

Tapping phones saved lives in Richmond.

Law enforcement officials from local, county and federal crime-fighting forces released details Wednesday of a large-scale "wiretap" operation, in which five cell phones and a landline were targeted, according to the Contra Costa Times.

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The listening operation netted 23 arrests, the newspaper reported -- and "prevented people from being killed or shot," according to District Attorney Mark Peterson.

The two-month program halted planned shootings, and also arrested members of "Deep C," a Richmond gang cops said is behind some shootings, the newspaper reported.

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Since June, cops had intervened on several planned drive-by shootings that were retaliation for previous violence, according to the newspaper.

The violence centered in the Pullman Point Housing Complex, the newspaper reported.

The wiretapping captured conversations between the at-risk young men and social workers in a program called Operation Ceasefire. The Ceasefire workers heard of "orders to kill" from the men, who were subsequently arrested, the newspaper reported.

Operation Exodus, the wiretapping program, was a joint effort between Richmond police, the Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), the newspaper reported.